Rep. Norm Thurston — Voting Record

Bill

Number

S.B. 28 Third Substitute (2020GS)

Sponsor

Sen. Thatcher, D.

Final action

Governor Signed 3/30/2020

Outcome

Became law — signed by Gov. Gary R. Herbert

Summary

What it does

• This bill:
• removes a statement from the unaffiliated portion of the ballot; and
• modifies the definition of "filing officer" in relation to state legislators.

Every vote on this bill

Bill text

ELECTION LAW REVISIONS
GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Daniel W. Thatcher
House Sponsor: 
Marc K. Roberts
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill amends provisions relating to candidate filings and ballots.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
▸ removes a statement from the unaffiliated portion of the ballot; and
▸ modifies the definition of "filing officer" in relation to state legislators.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
20A-6-301
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 274
20A-9-101
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2018, Chapter 19
20A-11-1602
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2019, Chapter 266
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section 
20A-6-301
 is amended to read:
20A-6-301.
Paper ballots -- Regular general election.
(1) Each election officer shall ensure that:
(a) all paper ballots furnished for use at the regular general election contain:
(i) no captions or other endorsements except as provided in this section;
(ii) no symbols, markings, or other descriptions of a political party or group, except for
a registered political party that has chosen to nominate its candidates in accordance with
Section 
20A-9-403
; and
(iii) no indication that a candidate for elective office has been nominated by, or has
been endorsed by, or is in any way affiliated with a political party or group, unless the
candidate has been nominated by a registered political party in accordance with Subsection
20A-9-202
(4) or Subsection 
20A-9-403
(5).
(b) immediately below the perforated ballot stub, the following endorsements are
printed in 18 point bold type:
(i) "Official Ballot for ____ County, Utah";
(ii) the date of the election; and
(iii) the words "Clerk of __________ County" or, as applicable, the name of a
combined office that includes the duties of a county clerk;
(c) the party name or title is printed in capital letters not less than one-fourth of an inch
high;
(d) unaffiliated candidates, candidates not affiliated with a registered political party,
and all other candidates for elective office who were not nominated by a registered political
party in accordance with Subsection 
20A-9-202
(4) or Subsection 
20A-9-403
(5), are listed with
the other candidates for the same office in accordance with Section 
20A-6-305
, without a party
name or title[
, and with a mark referencing the following statement at the bottom of the ticket:
"This candidate is not affiliated with, or does not qualify to be listed on the ballot as affiliated
with, a political party."
];
(e) each ticket containing the lists of candidates, including the party name and device,
are separated by heavy parallel lines;
(f) the offices to be filled are plainly printed immediately above the names of the
candidates for those offices;
(g) the names of candidates are printed in capital letters, not less than one-eighth nor
more than one-fourth of an inch high in heavy-faced type not smaller than 10 point, between
lines or rules three-eighths of an inch apart; and
(h) on a ticket for a race in which a voter is authorized to cast a write-in vote and in
which a write-in candidate is qualified under Section 
20A-9-601
:
(i) the ballot includes a space for a write-in candidate immediately following the last
candidate listed on that ticket; or
(ii) for the offices of president and vice president and governor and lieutenant
governor, the ballot includes two spaces for write-in candidates immediately following the last
candidates on that ticket, one placed above the other, to enable the entry of two valid write-in
candidates.
(2) Each election officer shall ensure that:
(a) each person nominated by any registered political party under Subsection
20A-9-202
(4) or Subsection 
20A-9-403
(5), and no other person, is placed on the ballot:
(i) under the registered political party's name, if any; or
(ii) under the title of the registered political party as designated by them in their
certificates of nomination or petition, or, if none is designated, then under some suitable title;
(b) the names of all unaffiliated candidates that qualify as required in Title 20A,
Chapter 9, Part 5, Candidates not Affiliated with a Party, are placed on the ballot;
(c) the names of the candidates for president and vice president are used on the ballot
instead of the names of the presidential electors; and
(d) the ballots contain no other names.
(3) When the ballot contains a nonpartisan section, the election officer shall ensure
that:
(a) the designation of the office to be filled in the election and the number of
candidates to be elected are printed in type not smaller than eight point;
(b) the words designating the office are printed flush with the left-hand margin;
(c) the words, "Vote for one" or "Vote for up to _____ (the number of candidates for
which the voter may vote)" extend to the extreme right of the column;
(d) the nonpartisan candidates are grouped according to the office for which they are
candidates;
(e) the names in each group are placed in the order specified under Section 
20A-6-305
with the surnames last; and
(f) each group is preceded by the designation of the office for which the candidates
seek election, and the words, "Vote for one" or "Vote for up to _____ (the number of
candidates for which the voter may vote)," according to the number to be elected.
(4) Each election officer shall ensure that:
(a) proposed amendments to the Utah Constitution are listed on the ballot in
accordance with Section 
20A-6-107
;
(b) ballot propositions submitted to the voters are listed on the ballot in accordance
with Section 
20A-6-107
; and
(c) bond propositions that have qualified for the ballot are listed on the ballot under the
title assigned to each bond proposition under Section 
11-14-206
.
Section 2. Section 
20A-9-101
 is amended to read:
20A-9-101.
Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) (a) "Candidates for elective office" means persons who file a declaration of
candidacy under Section 
20A-9-202
 to run in a regular general election for a federal office,
constitutional office, multicounty office, or county office.
(b) "Candidates for elective office" does not mean candidates for:
(i) justice or judge of court of record or not of record;
(ii) presidential elector;
(iii) any political party offices; and
(iv) municipal or local district offices.
(2) "Constitutional office" means the state offices of governor, lieutenant governor,
attorney general, state auditor, and state treasurer.
(3) "Continuing political party" means the same as that term is defined in Section
20A-8-101
.
(4) (a) "County office" means an elective office where the officeholder is selected by
voters entirely within one county.
(b) "County office" does not mean:
(i) the office of justice or judge of any court of record or not of record;
(ii) the office of presidential elector;
(iii) any political party offices;
(iv) any municipal or local district offices; and
(v) the office of United States Senator and United States Representative.
(5) "Federal office" means an elective office for United States Senator and United
States Representative.
(6) "Filing officer" means:
(a) the lieutenant governor, for:
(i) the office of United States Senator and United States Representative; and
(ii) all constitutional offices;
(b) for the office of a state senator or state representative, the lieutenant governor or the
applicable clerk described in Subsection (6)(c) or (d);
[
(b)
] 
(c)
 the county clerk, for county offices and local school district offices;
[
(c)
] 
(d)
 the county clerk in the filer's county of residence, for multicounty offices;
[
(d)
] 
(e)
 the city or town clerk, for municipal offices; [
and
] 
or
[
(e)
] 
(f)
 the local district clerk, for local district offices.
(7) "Local district office" means an elected office in a local district.
(8) "Local government office" includes county offices, municipal offices, and local
district offices and other elective offices selected by the voters from a political division entirely
within one county.
(9) (a) "Multicounty office" means an elective office where the officeholder is selected
by the voters from more than one county.
(b) "Multicounty office" does not mean:
(i) a county office;
(ii) a federal office;
(iii) the office of justice or judge of any court of record or not of record;
(iv) the office of presidential elector;
(v) any political party offices; [
and
] 
or
(vi) any municipal or local district offices.
(10) "Municipal office" means an elective office in a municipality.
(11) (a) "Political division" means a geographic unit from which an officeholder is
elected and that an officeholder represents.
(b) "Political division" includes a county, a city, a town, a local district, a school
district, a legislative district, and a county prosecution district.
(12) "Qualified political party" means a registered political party that:
(a) (i) permits a delegate for the registered political party to vote on a candidate
nomination in the registered political party's convention remotely; or
(ii) provides a procedure for designating an alternate delegate if a delegate is not
present at the registered political party's convention;
(b) does not hold the registered political party's convention before the fourth Saturday
in March of an even-numbered year;
(c) permits a member of the registered political party to seek the registered political
party's nomination for any elective office by the member choosing to seek the nomination by
either or both of the following methods:
(i) seeking the nomination through the registered political party's convention process,
in accordance with the provisions of Section 
20A-9-407
; or
(ii) seeking the nomination by collecting signatures, in accordance with the provisions
of Section 
20A-9-408
; and
(d) (i) if the registered political party is a continuing political party, no later than 5 p.m.
on September 30 of an odd-numbered year, certifies to the lieutenant governor that, for the
election in the following year, the registered political party intends to nominate the registered
political party's candidates in accordance with the provisions of Section 
20A-9-406
; or
(ii) if the registered political party is not a continuing political party, certifies at the
time that the registered political party files the petition described in Section 
20A-8-103
 that, for
the next election, the registered political party intends to nominate the registered political
party's candidates in accordance with the provisions of Section 
20A-9-406
.
Section 3. Section 
20A-11-1602
 is amended to read:
20A-11-1602.
Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Conflict of interest" means an action that is taken by a regulated officeholder that
the officeholder reasonably believes may cause direct financial benefit or detriment to the
officeholder, a member of the officeholder's immediate family, or an individual or entity that
the officeholder is required to disclose under the provisions of this section, if that benefit or
detriment is distinguishable from the effects of that action on the public or on the officeholder's
profession, occupation, or association generally.
(2) "Conflict of interest disclosure" means:
(a) before January 1, 2020, a conflict of interest disclosure form that includes all
information required under Section 
20A-11-1604
; and
(b) on or after January 1, 2020, a disclosure, on the website, of all information required
under Section 
20A-11-1604
.
(3) "Entity" means a corporation, a partnership, a limited liability company, a limited
partnership, a sole proprietorship, an association, a cooperative, a trust, an organization, a joint
venture, a governmental entity, an unincorporated organization, or any other legal entity,
regardless of whether it is established primarily for the purpose of gain or economic profit.
(4) "Filing officer" means:
(a) the lieutenant governor, for the office of a state constitutional officer or State Board
of Education member; or
(b) 
the lieutenant governor or
 the county clerk in the county of the candidate's
residence, for a state legislative office.
(5) "Immediate family" means the regulated officeholder's spouse, a child living in the
regulated officeholder's immediate household, or an individual claimed as a dependent for state
or federal income tax purposes by the regulated officeholder.
(6) "Income" means earnings, compensation, or any other payment made to an
individual for gain, regardless of source, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission,
pay, bonus, severance pay, incentive pay, contract payment, interest, per diem, expenses,
reimbursement, dividends, or otherwise.
(7) (a) "Owner or officer" means an individual who owns an ownership interest in an
entity or holds a position where the person has authority to manage, direct, control, or make
decisions for:
(i) the entity or a portion of the entity; or
(ii) an employee, agent, or independent contractor of the entity.
(b) "Owner or officer" includes:
(i) a member of a board of directors or other governing body of an entity; or
(ii) a partner in any type of partnership.
(8) "Preceding year" means the year immediately preceding the day on which the
regulated officeholder makes a conflict of interest disclosure.
(9) "Regulated officeholder" means an individual who is required to make a conflict of
interest disclosure under the provisions of this part.
(10) "State constitutional officer" means the governor, the lieutenant governor, the state
auditor, the state treasurer, or the attorney general.
(11) "Website" means the Candidate and Officeholder Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Website described in Section 
20A-11-1602.5
.